Friday, November 30, 2007

Sorry I didn't post anything last night; I was wiped out. Cohen is still really grumpy. He'll be happy for a little bit but when he gets grumpy nothing can calm him down. Poor guy; he is going through so much right now.He didn't have to go home on iv fluids this time. He is still eating pretty well. Scrambled eggs are now a favorite. I just need to put in a lot of butter and milk to pack in the calories. I'm not sure how much weight he's lost because they weigh him in kilograms. I'm guessing at least 2lbs. Not too much because they aren't worried about it yet.Cohen will have 3 tests done in 2-3 weeks (right before the next round of chemo) to check if the chemotherapy is working. He will have a bone scan, MIBG, and CT scan (all on different days.) All of the same ones he's had before. I hope the chemotherapy is working. Then they can schedule surgery and stay on the same plan. Hopefully the bone scan, the test that showed the tumor in his skull and cheek, will show no sign of the tumor there. Along with the other two scans. That way they'll have a better idea of where he's at.The next round of chemo is scheduled for December 18th for 5 days (6 days total stay.) Keep your fingers crossed that his white blood cells come up on time and that everything goes as expected so we don't have to stay during Christmas.Thank you for your prayers.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Poor Cohen. He is so miserable. He's been throwing up since 3:00 in the morning. He's pretty much been crying the whole time too; other than when he's sleeping. The chemo is really making him nauseous. They are keeping up on his meds but it is only helping a little.Here are the chemo treatments he is getting this time.-Vincristine (just yesterday.) The nurse just pushed it in his iv over 5 min. The side effects are constipation, stomach pain, and hair loss.-Doxorubicin (just yesterday.) It runs into the iv for 15 min. It is a red liquid so it makes his urine pink or red for 1-2 days. The side effects are nausea/vomiting, hair loss, low blood counts, and mouth sores.-Cyclophosphamide (2 days.) It runs for 6 hours. The side effects are nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, hair loss, and low blood counts.Less common side effects of the Doxorubicin and Cyclophoshamide is heart damage. They said if anything it would be in the long run and could affect the squeeze of his heart. :o) We've been through heart defects with Kelsi so bring it on. JK. Hopefully it doesn't effect Cohen. We definitely don't need two heart transplants in the family.I probably wont post another update until we get home tomorrow. He is not really letting me do much. I'm not sure when we are leaving either so plan on tomorrow evening.Thanks everyone.(This message was suppose to be posted on Wednesday Nov 28th but wouldn't. Sorry for the confusion.)

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Dr. Wright said a few of the tests, that were taken in his first week, came back and are favorable. She thinks he has a better chance of living!!! :o) We are so happy! She said that they'd have a better idea if they knew for sure that it didn't travel to his skull and cheek bone. The only way they would know is if they did a biopsy of the skull and were able to get a piece of the tumor. She said that it is harder to locate because it isn't a mass. So for now they aren't going to do a biopsy. So the only thing that is putting him in the high risk category is his age. We got here at 11:00 this morning.Cohen wasn't too happy to be here. He kept pointing at the door. They started him with iv fluids to get him really hydrated before they could start chemo. They started the chemo treatments at 9:00pm. He is receiving 3 today and 2 tomorrow. 6 1/2 total hours. It is dark so I will give names and side effects tomorrow.Thank you so so much for all of your prayers!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Cohen is scheduled for chemo tomorrow at 11:00. His white blood cell count is 2200 (2.2,) platelets- 563, and red blood cells- 31.5. His red blood cell count dropped a little so I think they are going to give him a transfusion. He will have two days worth of chemo treatments and probably go home on Thursday.

He has been doing so well this past week. We actually took him over to my parents house just to get him out of the house. He had so much fun. He was eating all day and playing with my little brother.

My grandparents came up from Hurricane for Thanksgiving so we sent Kelsi home with them for the week. That way we wont have to worry about what to do with her during the day. She is having so much fun.

Anyway, I hope this round of chemo goes as well as the last one. :o) Thank you so much for your prayers.

So I've decided to do this blog on top of the carepages website. This will be easier for everyone to view and it's more fun for me. Some can't view this blog so I am going to post the exact same updates on carepages.com. So pick your favorite website. :o)(I have links for Kelsi and Cohen's carepages.)